Tag Archives: women

An “election” was held in Afghanistan a few days ago and its results undoubtedly bring joy to the hearts of all dead political leaders who used to stuff ballots in Chicago or New Jersey or Pittsburgh. The Election Complaints Commission(ECC) already has received 225 complaints about voter intimidation, ballot stuffing and violence as well as interference by local police authorities. Correspondents for the British The Independent witnessed fraud at a polling station where officials claimed 1,200 showed up to vote but independent witnesses only saw a few dozen people actually vote.

Naturally, President Karzai hailed his apparent victory and dismissed complaints as due to “losing candidates often try to justify their loss this way.” Then again, “winning candidates” often try to justify their “victory” this way. Abdullah Abdullah, who was thought to constitute an electoral threat to incumbent Hamid Karzai, is convinced there was widespread manipulation of the election to ensure Karzai won.

Lost in the squabble over the fairness or accuracy of the election was the reality half the population really did not participate in any election– women! How can an election reflect a nation’s feelings if half the people were not allowed to vote?

During the 1960s the world confronted a challenge to codes of morality when young people decided to wear long hair. Somehow, civilization survived that threat to its moral fiber, but the government of the Sudan deserves credit for identifying a new challenge to all we hold dear to the cause of morality–trousers. Dozens of women protested against the upcoming trial of Lubna Hussein, a former UN worker who shocked the Sudanese people by inviting a dozen women to have a cup of coffee in a restaurant where they all sat clad in trousers! Ten of the women at the luncheon who were arrested accepted the punishment of ten lashes and went home to the security of wearing trousers around the house.

Ms. Hussein refuses to back down at being charged with “indecent dressing.” An ally, Amal Habani, a female columnist told the media “we are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them.” I have always wondered why there are no appropriate dress codes for Muslim men. I guess God has something against trousers,given that he is always depicted in robes.

Ms. Hussein expressed her feelings by saying, ‘I am ready for what may come.” We are certain the verdict will be delivered in an audience composed of women who do not wear trousers while some of the men are trouserites.

I confess to being an infidel who does not understand the intricacies of the Muslim religion or its approach to issues of trial, sentencing, and punishment. However, every so often one encounters a weird story from a Muslim society in which women really get the back of the hand while men, at most, get a slap. One hundred fifty women in the Maldives face the prospect of flogging along with about 50 men. Judge Abdullah Mohamed of the Criminal Court emphasized the use of flogging was not designed to injure anyone, but was simply a way of letting the culprit as well as society know about behavior that should be avoided. When asked why more women than men wind up getting flog, the good judge responded: “A man after making this problem will go away and maybe the woman will have relations with more than one man and won’t know who is responsible or the mean denies it.”

I assume hidden in this rambling bit of philosophy is the kernel of rationality, but since I am an infidel, it is difficult to me to understand the rationale of beating a woman on her back until she bleeds in the name of God or whoever. I have a hunch God hangs his head in sorrow when men go about beating up on women for doing things these men do with impunity.

In a world in which bankers and billionaires are blamed for making money by ripping off the public, it is unfortunate that honest, decent, fun-loving billionaires like Silvio Berlusconi are subjected to unfair attacks in the media. Of course, we refer to the few media outlets in Italy that he does not own. Prime Minister Berlusconi is a gorgeous man in his seventies who when walking down the street causes every female under forty to gaze in wonder at his butt or his head or something that every billionaire projects. OK, so there were dozens of gorgeous young girls at his parties. His enemies claim they claim because they were paid and wanted to enjoy the largesse of a billionaire. Silvio claims he is being subjected to unfair attacks because any fair minded person knows a gorgeous girl on seeing him enter the room just swoons in love and admiration for the man with the golden touch.

Patrizia D’Addario, who her friends hint is a lady of the night and received about a thousand dollars to attend a Berlusconi party wants to make clear the money had nothing to do with being at the party, she just wanted to soak in the masculinity and viagra power of the billionaire with the golden touch. Shame on the media for attacking a defenseless billionaire who only owns some media outlets in Italy, but does not control the world media.

It is time for the International Criminal Court to take up the unfair attacks on the innocent man with eyes only for beautiful gals. Should we condemn a man who enjoys the company of young beautiful women? After all, he just wants to be a big daddy to those with big busts.

Silvio Berlusconi has vast wealth and a media empire which protects him against being attacked by opponents, but for some reason, the man with the golden touch just can not resist the touch of an attractive woman. Italian prosecutors are investigating a health kickback scandal which apparently is connected to lavish parties thrown at the home of Berlusconi. Patrizia D’Addario, claims to possess audio and visual records of her attendance at parties in which she was paid to be present. She was sent to the parties in order to assist two brothers gain important health care contracts from the government. Ms. D’Addario insists she was told by Prime Minister Berlusconi that he would help her and he was “a man of his word.”

One would believe a man with his wealth would not have to pay women to attend his parties, but this is Italy and Berlusconi is a man who can’t resist the touch of a woman. The question now is could he resist the touch of a man anxious for a contract?

At a recent conference called to discuss the issue of domestic violence, a Saudi Arabian judge told the startled audience that it was appropriate for a husband to slap his wife if she was guilty of lavish spending. Judge Hamad al-Razine cited the example of over-spending to buy a ahigh-end abaya, the head-to-toe black shroud Saudi women have to wear in public as justifying a good smack in the face for a women who was so negligent in dealing with household finances. “If a person gives q200 riyals(US $320) to his wife and she spends 900 riyals to purchase an abaya from a brand shop, and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment.”

His comments aroused a fury of reaction not only from government activists working in the area of domestic violence, but from women in the audience who thought they were attending a conference that dealt with issues pertaining to their rights. As far as the judge is concerned, “Nobody puts even a fraction of the blame on them(women).”

I wonder what the judge would say if a woman slapped a husband in the face for lavish spending on a dinner with the guys or a new car.

Th Danish government has created an incentive program that rewards universities which push students through their degree program rapidly. However, women who take maternity leave now find themselves being punished for caring for their child since they will not be able to get an undergraduate degree in four years or a masters degree in two. Universities which succeed in speeding up the process of graduation are rewarded with extra money. The government never considered the situation of women who take off to have a child when they decided on the program. According to Jens Oddershede, “it is direct discrimination against women. Women take much longer paternity leave then men, so basically it’s an incitement for the universities to recruit more men and create new programs that appeal to men.”

Lost in this dispute is an obvious question: What is the rationale for speeding up the process of learning? Is this based on some theory that quicker is better? Aren’t their reasons why some students should take more time to complete a college degree? Whenever, money is an incentive, one doubts if academic quality is improved.

The winds of change are sweeping through Indonesia and impacting the way of thinking of many women. An increasing number of Muslim women are choosing to divorce their husband if he decides to engage in a polygamous marriage with another woman. According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, “there has been a significant increase in divorce because women have been rejecting polygamy in recent years.” Muslim scholar Siti Musadh Mulia, says this may stem from “women are now daring to fight for their rights and reject male domination.” Women may now feel the need to respect the integrity of their feelings and desire a sense of independence rather than believe the man is always right.

Ironically, polygamy is on the rise in Indonesia even as more and more women reject it. The force of media means as women in Indonesia become aware of world wide trends it may impact their own feelings as to their self worth and right to be treated as an independent person.

America and the world’s democracies are very fortunate to have an ally such as Saudi Arabia whose forces are ever on guard to protect the people of that happy land from having to encounter such evil events as men and women walking and talking together. Yesterday, members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hay) smashed a ring of sex mad men and women who were attending a fair organized by British universities to help Saudi youth select a college. The police entered college grounds posing as representatives of a government body and made women leave the premises to avoid having them come into contact with the body of an evil man– male relatives, by definition, are not evil.

Not only were Saudi women made to leave but so were British women. The British women were serving as representatives of the 25 colleges which advertised their institutions since it made common sense to have women serve Saudi women. But, in the glorious democracy of Saudi Arabia even having women serve women is illegal if a man is within seeing distance.

Is the fact Saudi Arabia has oil the reason the world puts up with their nonsense?

Professor Amina Wdud, a visiting American scholar from California, will be the first woman to lead Friday prayers in Britain. She will be delivering the sermon as part of a conference on Islam and feminism which is being held at Oxford. Taj Hargery, a fighter for human rights in South Africa, said the Koran is clear, “whatever is not expressly prohibited is permitted.” He challenged Literalists who say a woman should never lead a community. He signaled out the Wahhabi who do not believe in the “innate equality of men and women.”

Mokh-tar-Badri, vice president of the Muslim Association of Britain, argued that not allowing women to lead prayers had nothing to do with prejudice against females. He said God had ordained, “Women can lead prayers before other women, but before a congregation of men and women, a man must lead.” That is one view on what God wants.